Dante Scarnecchia voiced support for Trent Brown, Mac Jones after Patriots’ Week 1 loss

"You’ve just got to be demanding of a guy and say, 'Hey look, this is unacceptable,’ and train them to do things the way they need to get done."

Dante Scarnecchia in 2019. AP Photo/Elise Amendola

September 13, 2022

1 minute to read

Despite the Patriots’ difficult start to the season, former offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia still believes in his longtime team.

Speaking with WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on Tuesday, Scarnecchia — who retired in 2020 having helped the Patriots win five Super Bowls — was asked about the poor showing from New England left tackle Trent Brown.

Brown, 29, allowed two sacks, a quarterback hit, committed a penalty, and ended the Patriots’ loss to the Dolphins with a 65.7 grade from Pro Football Focus (lowest among the team’s starting offensive linemen).

Since Scarnecchia was credited for helping to develop Brown in the 2018 season for the Patriots (a year in which New England won the Super Bowl), he was asked if he thinks the talented left tackle can regain his form.

“Look, we were all in the same room, we’re all trying to get the same things done,” Scarnecchia said of coaching an offensive line. “And so, between the teammates that are all around him and the coaches that are in the room, you’ve just got to be demanding of a guy and say, ‘Hey look, this is unacceptable,’ and train them to do things the way they need to get done.”

Ultimately, Scarnecchia backed Brown to work through the Week 1 issues.

“He’ll do it, he’s a compliant guy,” Scarnecchia explained. “This is not a guy that’s gonna push back and fight back and all the rest of it. He wants to do well, and he will work at it, and I think they’ve got him in the right place.”

As for quarterback Mac Jones, Scarnecchia sees the potential for a “really good quarterback,” provided he gets some help.

“I don’t think he’s an average quarterback,” he said. “I think he’s above-average. I think he has a good high ceiling. Is he going to be Patrick Mahomes? No. Is he going to be Tom Brady? Certainly no one’s Tom Brady.

“But I think he can be a really good quarterback in the National Football League when he has all the tools around him, all the weapons around him, I think he can be really good.”